With only nine weeks to go to the 100k South Coast Challenge I have been diligently following my training plan and have established a good routine.  I feel I have achieved a lot and am definitely a lot fitter and stronger than when I start the programme back in April.  However, I am starting to notice a slight change in how I feel ie: more than usual tiredness, lack of motivation, loss of appetite, irritability and a general lack of joy.

Feelings of tiredness when working out hard are quite normal and to be expected when you are pushing your body to achieve more.  These normal feelings can make it difficult to distinguish between the normal aches and pains of training, feeling a bit jaded and the symptoms of overtraining.

Overtraining symptoms occur when you push your body beyond its ability to recover.  Having regular recovery days in your training plan can help avoid this but it can be difficult to pre-plan adequate rest as each body is individual with individual needs.  Mild overtraining symptoms can include:

•  feeling tired and washed out or lacking in energy
• drop in performance ie. finding pushing weights hard when previously it wasn’t a problem.
• an increase in colds, sore throats etc (decreased immunity)
• insomnia
• headaches
• changes in your emotional state

As I haven’t had a break for a while I have decided to take a week or so off to recharge my batteries.  It can be psychologically quite hard to take a break from training as it can be difficult to re-establish a regular again.  However, pushing on through mild symptoms of overtraining can lead to more serious symptoms and injury which potentially could mean missing the challenge altogether.  That said, a break in training doesn’t necessarily mean totally avoiding exercise just, perhaps, doing it in a different format.

Hopefully a break will see me returning to training with renewed enthusiasm and vigor.